I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to bearing assemblies and more particularly to a bearing assembly having improved lubrication and cooling means.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In order to prevent bearing failure, depending on their particular application, bearing assemblies require not only lubrication but also cooling means to prevent overheating of the bearing assembly. Accordingly many previously known bearing assemblies have been devised to function with external systems to both cool and lubricate the bearing assembly.
These previously known bearing assemblies, however, suffer the disadvantage that not only is the bearing assembly complex and therefore expensive to manufacture, but also the apparatus external of the bearing assembly is unduly complex and expensive to manufacture. Moreover in some of the previously known lubrication and cooling systems for bearing assemblies, the lubrication system is constructed and functions independently of the cooling system thereby requiring two independent external systems in order to adequately cool and lubricate the bearing assembly. The structural duplication required by separate cooling and lubrication systems also indirectly increases the costs of the bearing assembly.
A further disadvantage of the previously known lubrication systems for bearings is that such lubrication systems provided an uneven distribution of lubricant to the bearing members of the bearing assembly. With an uneven distribution of lubricant to the bearing assembly, areas of the bearing assembly tend to overheat, expand, and cause subsequent bearing failure.